


Shards: The First

by taichara



Series: Scattered Silver [1]
Category: Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV - Free Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drabble Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 23:47:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16028531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: A collection of five drabbles, for Table One ofLuxken27's Summer Challenge 2018.





	1. At The Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosa finds hope in an unexpected place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "cerise"

_With this, we ..._

Unbelievable fortune. That's what it was. Though she felt stunned, overjoyed, at Cecil's curbing of his darkness -- he looked radiant, standing there, bright as the crystals surrounding them -- a flicker of desert rose in the Evil Wall's shattered remains had drawn her attention like an arrow shot from her own bow.

And there it lay, to be plucked free of the crumbling shards like the precious jewel it was: a sand ruby. 

Rosa scooped it up, barely daring to breathe.

_With this, there's a chance._

_Kain ..._

\-- he'd been so fragile, lying there --

_Wait just a little longer!_


	2. Errant Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When in doubt, Cecil does what he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "sail"

It wasn't the assignment Cecil had expected, yet he couldn't muster much surprise; too many little things stood out as strange, these days, and despite his own self-doubts he was sure it wasn't _all_ in his mind --

_*snap*_ \-- of waxed canvas, shot through with mithril, in his face. He smothered a curse, lunged for the errant cables before the sail let itself loose. Too much woolgathering, damn it, and Rosa was counting on him.

Rosa. She put on a brave face but Cecil _knew_ , just as Rosa knew this was a fool's errand. But -- nothing to be done.

Not yet.


	3. Skyfires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damcyan is a horror Cecil knows and Rosa will contend with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "recently"

Damcyan was a ruin.

Rosa had hoped -- prayed -- that most of its people had escaped the carnage and fled to their herds and caravanserais. But there was no mistaking the number of bodies, the shattered, scorched stone ...

To her left she could just make out Cecil's soft oaths behind the ebon mask and her heart sank. 

_You of all people would recognize an airship bombardment, wouldn't you._

"Let's check the upper floors."

Cecil turned to, she assumed, stare; she repeated herself.

"If even one person is still alive, we have to find them -- and someone's been through before we have."


	4. Allegiances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Damcyan, an unexpected discovery --

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "new"

_"Please, allow me to lay the young lady and the others to rest, and then I shall accompany you."_

How could they not help him? Come all the way from Fabul as an envoy, faced with such horrors -- Cecil clasped Yang's hand warmly, hoped he dared to unmask soon.

"Let us assist you. It's the least we could do."

"But -- Damcyan's royal family ...?"

Rosa trailed off as Yang shook his head, brows lowering.

"The queen is ... lost. Her consorts as well. But I've found no trace of her son, the prince ...

"It is very odd."

Not the most comforting words.


	5. Grounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends should not be found like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "find"

"Kain, why are you here ..."

Cecil's murmur reached Rosa distantly, just as the world all around her seemed distant right that moment. Nothing else was important. Only the fevered, feebly-tossing figure in the bed before her, pale and sweat-slicked, unaware of her presence, of Cecil's presence.

... Or that last could be a lie. 

She thought she heard Cecil's name in Kain's faint raspings; he sounded fearful, betrayed. Why? 

What drove him into the desert to begin with ...? 

But there were no answers, and little chance ...

No. She refused to accept that.

Lifting the cup again, she encouraged Kain to drink.


End file.
